SUNDAY MASS REFLECTION OCTOBER 31, 2021 R A K M SUNDAY OF THE 31ST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME 1 2 4 : 2 8 - 3 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30) The first and the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. For me, this is the very essence of living in this world as Catholics. Secondly, love thy neighbor as you love yourself. This commandment conveys that loving ourselves is not only by individualistic enrichment but also, by showing our affection to the people that surround us. Moreover, as we engage with other people, we tend to earn certain realizations that help us to deeply know ourselves. Loving thy neighbor depicts whether you love God whole-heartedly. “You have Christ in your neighbor.” In doing good things to our neighbor, it is like we are doing these acts to our God. On the contrary, doing evil acts is displaying insolence to His commandments. It is for a fact that it is rather easy to mouth these words than putting them into actions, especially when the situation doesn’t favor you or when the situation gets out of hand. Instead of love and understanding, enragement and anger prevail. When we have come to a point that we acquire a better understanding of ourselves, we are much capable of showing our affection towards others. We are also able to internalize the importance of responding to God’s call on living a Christcentered life. There is nothing we could do more in loving others than to act as a bridge between them and God.
